It is important to have a little variety of Christmas cookies on your cookie plate for Santa, right? To avoid serving the same cookies each year, we always try something new. It doesn’t have to be anything wild – a slight variation of the cookies you already bake is usually fine. These delicious Almond Star Sandwich Cookies are very similar to German Spitzbuben… something we bake every year.
Everyone is probably familiar with classic Spitzbuben, aka. Hildabrötchen. Simple shortbread sandwich cookies with jam filling. A characteristic feature of these cookies is the hole in the top cookie, through which you can see the jam filling. That’s why some people also call these cookies Linzer Augen (aka. Linzer eyes) because they say they look like eyes… red and bloodshot eyes, but okay – if you say so. ;P
We love these cookies – whether baked in a round shape or baked as stars, as shown here. The shape doesn’t really matter. Small, delicious, with a layer of jam in-between – what’s not to love? That’s what really counts. So if you prefer to bake these almond stars in a round or square shape instead… go for it! We have absolutely no problem with that. ;)
The difference between these cookies here and our classic Spitzbuben cookies is the dough, which has a few extra ground almonds and some almond extract added. We love the combination of jam and almonds… goes really well together. Just don’t overdo it with the almond extract! Otherwise, it can quickly taste a bit artificial. Nobody wants that…
The additional ground almonds make the cookies a bit more crumbly and lets them melt in your mouth quickly. Great if you want to eat several cookies at once. The classic Spitzbuben can get hard to chew and to swallow if you stuff more than three cookies at the same time into your mouth. ;P Won’t happen with these almond stars. They melt immediately. Room for more cookies! Just kidding! ;P
These almond stars are very easy to make. The dough doesn’t stick, doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and can be used immediately. When baking Christmas cookies, every second counts, right? We normally already have a lot to do – not wasting time on waiting for a dough to cool down… priceless!
If you’ve baked these stars and liked them, you might also want to check out our classic Spitzbuben Cookies. Or simply cut out a few round cookies using the recipe here and sell them as Spitzbuben… not many people will notice the difference anyway. ;P
You can make this type of cookie a bit more special, though. With colored dough, for example. Our Marble Christmas Sandwich Cookies are as easy to prepare as the classic cookies, but look so much more interesting – in our opinion. ;) You have to waive the (usual) thick layer of confectioner’s sugar on top, though, or you will not see the marble effect.
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
(30+ cookies)
7 oz. (200g) margarine (or butter at room temperature)
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 medium egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a few drops of almond extract*
1 1/3 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
3.5 oz. (100g) ground almonds (blanched)
1 pinch of salt
about 5.3 oz. (150g) jam (raspberries, redcurrants, etc.)
some confectioners’ sugar for dusting
(30+ Cookies)
200g Margarine (oder weiche Butter)
150g Zucker
1 Eigelb (M)
1 TL Vanille Extrakt
einige Tropfen Bittermandel Aroma*
300g Mehl (Type 405)
100g gemahlene (blanchierte) Mandeln
1 Prise Salz
etwa 150g Marmelade (Himbeeren, Johannisbeeren, etc.)
etwas Puderzucker zum Bestäuben
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) fan-forced. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
2. Add the margarine (or soft butter), sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Combine flour, ground almonds, and salt and add to the large bowl – mix and knead until you get a smooth dough.
3. Roll out the dough thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies (stars or circles) – half of them should have an opening in the middle. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet with some space in between. Bake the cookies for about 9-10 minutes – the cookies should not brown. Take out of the oven and let cool down for a moment on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool down completely. Collect remaining dough, cut out more cookies and bake them until all dough is used.
4. Warm the jam a little to soften it. Add a small amount to the cookies without opening and press them together with a matching counterpart (with an opening) to create sandwich cookies. Dust with some confectioners’ sugar and let them dry on a wire rack for a few hours. If you place them in a cookie box straight away, the cookies might fall apart. Store the dried cookies in an airtight cookie box without any other cookies.
1. Den Ofen auf 160°C (320°F) Umluft vorheizen. Ein Backblech mit Backpapier auslegen und zur Seite stellen.
2. Margarine (oder weiche Butter), Zucker, Eigelb, Vanille Extrakt und Bittermandel Aroma in einer großen Schüssel hell und luftig aufschlagen. Mehl mit den gemahlenen Mandeln und Salz vermischen, zur großen Schüssel dazugeben und alles zu einem glatten Teig verkneten.
3. Den Teig auf einer leicht bemehlten Oberfläche dünn ausrollen und dann mit Ausstechern (Sterne oder Kreise) Teigstücke ausstechen – die Hälfte davon sollte in der Mitte eine Öffnung haben – und mit etwas Abstand zueinander auf das vorbereitete Blech setzen. Die Plätzchen für etwa 9-10 Minuten backen – die Plätzchen sollten nur wenig Farbe bekommen haben. Aus dem Ofen nehmen und kurz auf dem Blech abkühlen lassen, dann auf ein Kuchengitter setzen und komplett auskühlen lassen. Teigreste neu ausrollen, weitere Plätzchen ausstechen und backen, bis der Teig komplett aufgebraucht ist.
4. Die Marmelade ein wenig erwärmen und durchrühren, damit sie sich besser verarbeiten lässt, dann jeweils eine kleine Portion auf die Kekse ohne Öffnung geben und mit einem passenden Gegenstück (mit Öffnung) zu einem Doppeldecker-Keks zusammendrücken. Mit Puderzucker bestäuben und dann ein paar Stunden auf einem Kuchengitter anziehen und trocknen lassen. Würde man sie sofort in eine Keksdose packen, besteht die Gefahr, dass sie Doppeldecker auseinanderrutschen. Der Puderzucker auf der Marmelade wird mit der Zeit aufgelöst und man bekommt hübsche, gepuderte Plätzchen mit Marmelade in der Mitte. Die fertigen Plätzchen in einer gut schließenden Keksdose ohne andere Plätzchen aufbewahren.
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
Print
Almond Star Sandwich Cookies
- Prep Time: 00:30
- Cook Time: 00:10
- Total Time: 03:00
- Yield: 30 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: Germany
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
One of our favorite cookies to bake for Christmas: Almond Star Sandwich Cookies! Great flavors, great texture, simply awesome Xmas cookies!
Ingredients
7 oz. (200g) margarine (or butter at room temperature)
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 medium egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
a few drops of almond extract*
1 1/3 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
3.5 oz. (100g) ground almonds (blanched)
1 pinch of salt
about 5.3 oz. (150g) jam (raspberries, redcurrants, etc.)
some confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) fan-forced. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.
2. Add the margarine (or soft butter), sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract to a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Combine flour, ground almonds, and salt and add to the large bowl – mix and knead until you get a smooth dough.
3. Roll out the dough thinly on a lightly floured surface. Cut out cookies (stars or circles) – half of them should have an opening in the middle. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet with some space in between. Bake the cookies for about 9-10 minutes – the cookies should not brown. Take out of the oven and let cool down for a moment on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool down completely. Collect remaining dough, cut out more cookies and bake them until all dough is used.
4. Warm the jam a little to soften it. Add a small amount to the cookies without opening and press them together with a matching counterpart (with an opening) to create sandwich cookies. Dust with some confectioners’ sugar and let them dry on a wire rack for a few hours. If you place them in a cookie box straight away, the cookies might fall apart. Store the dried cookies in an airtight cookie box without any other cookies.
Notes
Let the baking begin!
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